Lt Rhiannon Sato-Pryce | Chief Operations Officer | "Hwyr"

Posted on 241402.27 @ 2:00pm by Lieutenant Rhiannon Sato-Pryce
Edited on on 241402.27 @ 2:31pm

Mission: Where no man has gone before.
Location: Approaching McKinley Station

"The Enterprise!?" Rhiannon exclaimed, "I'm assigned to the Enterprise!?" as they entered the Sol System she was finally able to access her orders on the PADD she had been given before leaving the wrecking station.

The pilot ignored her.

She tapped him on the shoulder, "Have I stepped into some sort of parallel universe? Or did I hit my head on something and I'm in a coma back on the wrecking station?"

"I certainly hope not." the pilot said, "Because if either of those were true I'd have to be sporting some sort of goatee, or, worse, I'd just be a figment of your imaginations. Neither scenario are all that palatable to be honest." he said rubbing his facial-hairless chin.

Rhiannon chuckled, "True enough." but waved the PADD around, "But then how does one explain how a girl who pulls stuff apart for a living gets assigned to the newest and most prestigious starship in the Fleet?"

"Hey, I'm just a shuttle pilot going to and fro, I know nothing of the inners workings of the upper echelons." he grinned.

Rhiannon frowned, "So, then, I guess you can't explain how I'm not assigned as an engineer, but rather as Chief of Operations. Me? In charge of a whole starship department. And one that's kind of tangential to my career track."

"Well I'd imagine your work at the wrecking station means you're intimately aware of the most inner workings of a wide variety of starship systems."

"Perhaps, but surely that would more strongly indicate a engineering focused assignment."

"Not necessarily, you would know how the ship's systems are interconnected, how they relate to one another. That's more Operations purview."

"I suppose..." Rhiannon said, not yet entirely convinced.

"And besides, weren't you assigned to disassembling the computer cores, back at the wrecking station? Computers and computer software are definitely Operations."

"How would you know? You're just a pilot going to and fro."

"Oh...I've been around once or twice."

She narrowed her and looked at him carefully. "You're El-Aurian."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Nice. How can you tell?"

"I dunno, sometimes I just can. Of course with some other species it's a bit more obvious, like say Andorian or Klingon." she smirked.

The pilot chuckled. Then his console beeped. "Hold that thought we're being hailed by McKinley." he tapped a button to play the transmission.

"Shuttle Tydarian, you're late. Adjust your course, you are to convey Lt Sato-Pryce directly to En-See-See One Seven Zero One Foxtrot."

Rhiannon didn't hear the pilot acknowledge or terminate the transmission. She was mesmerised by the simple words, 'En-See-See One Seven Zero One Foxtrot', NCC-1701-F. It made it seem so much more real. Almost tangible.

The pilot shook her shoulder, "Oi, you with me? I said check that out." he pointed to the viewscreen.

They were approaching to the McKinley Station Spacedock, it's claws wrapped around a bright shining starship. It's seemingly white hull glimmered, reflecting the bright illuminators shining upon it from McKinley through the gaps between the articulated arms. As they drew ever closer she could see more and more of the vessel. And if hearing the registry made it seem more real, seeing it, the Enterprise, with her own eyes, not some projection on a PADD, cemented the whole deal within her.

She was assigned to the Enterprise.

She was a gorgeous ship, and, while seeming deceptively compact, it was definitely anything but small, it was big, bold, and sleek. The Odyssey Class upon which Enterprise was based is one of the largest class of vessels in Starfleet. It could probably house up to or more than 1,000 officers and crew.

The pilot swung the shuttle around the station, allowing Rhiannon a magnificent view of the fore of the ship, and as the shuttle fly along the length of the ship, Rhiannon dashed up to look through port viewport, she watched the hull wizz by, and then the ship's ample nacelles. The shuttle then swung around the nacelles aiming for a landing in the upper shuttle bay.

As the shuttle landed and the final checks completed, the pilot turned to Rhiannon, "Well Miss Lieutenant Sato-Pryce, I guess this is where we part ways for now."

"'Ah, parting is such sweet sorrow.' and all that eh?" Rhiannon grinned.

"Aye, be that the truth."

"I don't even know you name," Rhiannon said, picking up her duffle-bag.

"Does it matter?"

Rhiannon shrugged, "I suppose not, no."

The pilot smiled, "Well, off you go then. I'll make sure your things are beamed to the quarter master. They'll be the one's assigning you your quarters. And you should check in with the Executive Officer ASAP."

"Yes, Mum." Rhiannon said snarkily, as she left the shuttle, waving her hand as she went. "I'll see ya 'round, maybe."

"Indeed." The pilot grinned, and began checks to depart.

=/\= =/\= =/\=

Lieutenant Rhiannon Sato-Pryce
Chief Operations Officer
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-F